Arrrgh! Susan over at West of Mars did a TT that juiced me up to do 13 Bar couples this week. I’d been feeling kinda meh about that topic and wrote up 13 things I know because I work at a cemetery. Now I can’t make up my mind! I’d do both, just cause I could, and because I’m a lamer who can’t choose. However, time constraints are forcing me to go with my ghoulish cemetery TT.
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Thirteen Things I Know Because I Work at a Cemetery 1. The big oven used to do cremations is called a retort. 2. Cremains are not ash like in a fireplace. It’s more like fine sand. In fact, there are usually small bone fragments so everything that comes out of the retort is put in a grinder before it’s bagged and put in the urn. 3. I have felt warm cremains boxes before. They retain their heat for awhile, and when our crematory guy brings the boxes up to put in the vault, sometimes they are still warm to the touch. 4. When someone is embalmed, blood is drained from the body (usually via the carotid artery) and replaced with embalming fluid. The fluid is pinkish to help give the skin some color. 5. A Depository is a vault in the ground where they drop bags of cremains. It’s sort of a common grave for cremated remains. We have one that does not list whose cremains are within. We have two others with a granite slab where the names are engraved. 6. A lawn crypt is a grave with a cement vault set into it and at least 18 inches of sod on top. When you bury someone in a lawn crypt you peel off the sod, dig down the 2 feet to the top of the lawn crypt and then pry up the cement lid. In a companion lawn crypt, there’s another lid 6 feet down you have to remove in order to put the first casket in. 7. A cenotaph is a marker for someone who isn’t buried in the place where the marker is, or even in the cemetery. A lot of people buy these when their loved one has been cremated and scattered. 8. It’s illegal to scatter human cremains on private property unless you have the permission of the property owner. 9. When I visited the Orange County Coroner’s Office with our Mortuary Explorer’s Club, the sheriffs were selling chocolate toe tags to help raise funds for a related charity. 10. It takes a minimum of 2-3 hours to cremate a person. 11. Some cemeteries, like where I work, require that the family purchase a vault for the casket when burying in the ground. This keeps the grave from caving in. 12. There is a difference between a casket and a coffin. Coffins are no longer used in this country but other places still use them. Many of you who watch the news may have seen Benazir Bhutto’s coffin carried on the shoulders of her people after her assassination. Probably the biggest casket manufacturer is Batesville, located in Batesville, IN. 13. You can have the cremains of your loved one made into a diamond. |
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For those of you who know that I have been on pins and needles awaiting this wonderful arrival… IT’S HERE! My giraffe purse arrived from Dooney! I’m so amazed by it, that I have yet to unwrap it from the plastic. I’ll be taking some pics for posting soon. Oh, and I have a naughty giraffe pic for Friday too. Heh heh. Wait until you see THAT! Happy TT!
March 12th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Wow! That’s one informative post…I’d feel weird wearing diamond made of my loved one.
Just Say These Words
March 12th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Huh…very interesting.
I had heard about the diamonds before.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I never knew that stuff before! That was really interesting — you should repost this over Halloween!
Happy TT!
March 12th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Strangely, the only one that disturbed me is #9.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I never knew any of that before!
March 12th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I love learning things on TTs. Thanks for sharing these facts about your job.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Midas - I think a lot of people would!
Angie - The cemetery is a very different world than most people think it is. It’s not just about death, but celebrating life.
Lara - I would but since Halloween is my birthday, I will prolly do something different.
Ann - It disturbed me too! I hate milk chocolate. LOL My daughter happily ate her toe tag. But you know how teens are! Heh
Marcia - I didn’t either before I came to work at the cemetery.
Thanks for stopping by!
March 12th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Thanks for coming by Puss!
March 12th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
That giraffe purse would go just lovely with my zebra pants. Black and white stripes are slimming, you know, which is why inmates always look so healthy.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
That’s very interesting. When my time comes (in about 150 years) I want to be cremated and scattered on the River Thames in London. I want to avoid all that dreadful business of embalming, viewing, open coffin etc.
March 12th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Jonah! They have zebra purses too! With red trim. To die for. Altho, at the price of Dooneys, if I’m gonna spend $175 clams, I’d rather have the giraffe.
This was my big splurge for myself this year. You see, my SO is actually in the “big house” so I don’t have to spend anything on him!
Thanks for coming by!
March 12th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Nicholas, isn’t the Thames all polluted? Wouldn’t that be ick? I’m gonna be cremated too. I’ll be in the false bottom of a special jewelry box urn. The PITA will keep me right there with her rocks.
March 12th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
That was fascinating. I didn’t realize that about not being able to scatter cremains on private property—oops! (I was widowed a fewe years ago, though am now remarried).
Mine:
13 Hearts
March 13th, 2008 at 1:53 am
I am definitely being cremated. I may not even wait until I’m dead. Yay for the purse. Cheers!!
March 13th, 2008 at 4:45 am
Cool post. It must have been wonderfully creepy when you first started at the cemetery.
Happy TT
Renee
March 13th, 2008 at 4:56 am
This is morbidly cool stuff!
As for the inspiration, sorry about that. Maybe. I think.
Look at it this way: now you’ve got an extra TT for when you’re burned out. I’ve got a while file of them.
March 13th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Fascinating, and very entertaining. You have a very cool job.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Amazing that so much goes into the dead. I keep telling the hubbie to save money and just burn me up.
We are so not telling him about the diamond thing. He would want to do it and wear me all the time. See that just sounds creepy.
Shiny got me with the hip comment. Made me laugh good. Glad to know she holds the good juicy comments just for little ole me.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Very interesting! Not only things that I didn’t know–but things that I didn’t know that I didn’t know.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Damozel - Most people don’t know that one. However, I’m not sure if that’s just a CA law or one that other states have as well.
Matt - You just like it that I get all hot and bothered, regardless of whether it’s over a purse or your gorgeous organ.
Lyrical - I was so busy fretting over fitting in there, in a whole new industry for me, that I never really thought of it as creepy. Besides, an office is an office, ya know.
Susan - I will just have to talk characters next week, unless something freakier comes along.
Fullbody - I do! I’m the IT geek there, and we’re one of the few cemeteries running the type of network that we do. It’s actually gotten me a job offer from a cemetery software vendor back east.
Mary - I can’t believe ole Spottboy would wear you on his finger. Not that you’re kicking off before him. He’s man. They always go first. I think it’s cause they worry less about what they’ve left undone.
Darla - It is a very fascinating industry!
Thanks for coming by everyone!
March 13th, 2008 at 9:25 am
That was wonderfully enlightening. I’ll need to grab some time with you in a few months and go over some research details if you’re willing. I have a thing or three set in a cemetary in book 3 and would love a first hand conversation since it deals with cremated remains and how they’re inventoried. You’re name would look lovely on my acknowledgments page *grin*
Happy TT Winter
~X
March 13th, 2008 at 10:26 am
I would be happy to help, acknowledgment or no, X! I’ve often found that people have very little knowledge of what occurs behind the doors in this industry. I’m always happy to enlighten the world! Happy TT!
March 13th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Mmm….chocolate toe tags…
March 13th, 2008 at 10:53 am
Hmmm. Blogger just ate my comment. Ugh, chocolate toe tags!? gah. Interesting and fascinating stuff.
Happy TT, Winter!
http://impulsivehearts.wordpress.com/
March 13th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Until now, I only knew the definition of retort as being a quick/caustic reply. By the way, what is the difference between a coffin and a casket?
March 13th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
We had my Dad cremated about 6 years ago. He is in the URL from the funeral company, sitting somewhere in my brother’s house. Funny to read about you calling it cremains. I’d never heard of that before.
March 13th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Fab, you and the PITA would get along so well. Even without the leopard print bra.
Kaige, the only thing I liked about the chocolate toe tags is how funny they were.
Malcolm, the easiest way for me to explain it is to give you this link. It even has pictures. The casket info is at the bottom.
http://oakgrovecemetery.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/coffins-and-caskets/
Laura, it’s an industry term meaning “cremated human remains”.
Thanks for coming by everyone!
March 13th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
What a neat TT! Is the embalming fluid naturally pinkish, or is it dyed? #7 interests me, too. Does the family have to buy a regulation-sized plot? (Thanks for visiting my TT)
March 13th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Well, since embalming fluid is chemicals, I don’t think any of it is natural per se. So I imagine there is some kind of coloring in it. Especially since it comes in different types and colors. As for a cenotaph, it’s just a marker, a plaque with a name or names on it. We have a wall called the Autumn Rain Wall with bronze plaques on it. We also offer small granite plaques that stand at the base of the trees in the park. We do this because we have a wide variety of trees and are designated an arboretum. The tree plaques and Autumn Rain Wall are the two types of cenotaphs we offer. The family does not need to purchase a burial space or even have a loved one buried in the park in order to purchase a cenotaph.
March 13th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Wow…this was definitly informative. Sounds expensive to be cremated. I think I’ll go the cheap route when I die and ask DH to just throw me in the fire, scoop my ashes and put me in a Folgers can LOL
March 13th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I LOVE this TT! Not only do I love cemeteries, but I have always had a fascination with death. Very informative, and fun!
Happy TT!
March 13th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Shiny - He would get busted for sure! The best thing to do is to start paying for it while you’re young. You can pay for it over 10 years.
Sue - I’m glad you liked it. I got so many hits I’ll have to do more cemetery TTs now. LOL Thanks for coming by!
March 14th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Now I know who to ask when I need info on cemeteries. *wg*